Abstract:
Police-community relations--British Columbia; Race discrimination Canada; Vancouver (B.C.). Police Department
Subjects:
Police-community relations--British Columbia; Race discrimination Canada; Vancouver (B.C.). Police Department
Subjects Facet:
Police-community relations--British Columbia; Race discrimination Canada; Vancouver (B.C.). Police Department
Creator:
[No author identified]
Date:
1993-06-13
Date searchable:
1993-06-13
Date searchable:
1993-06-13
Genre:
articles
Genre Facet:
articles
Format:
image/tiff
Language:
Chinese
Language Facet:
Chinese
Relation:
Article from: World Journal（世界日報）
Rights:
Contact UVic Archives for access to the original resource and for reproduction requests (fee for reproductions).This material is made available on this site for research and private study only.
Title-Alternative:
A Small Number of Police Officers Have Racial Discrimination Issues
Location(s):
British Columbia--Vancouver
Location(s) Facet:
British Columbia--Vancouver
Transcript:
少數警員有種族歧視意識 大部警員對公衆持公平態度
警員對種族歧視、警員錯誤、大衆媒體、新移民及警員訓練都有本身的看法。
温市警員相信，大部份同僚對待公衆時均能採取公平態度，只有極少數警員有種族歧視行爲和態度。因工作上的困難，有時很難不把人「定型」，但種族歧視行爲對警隊形象有損。警員覺得在制度上並没有種族歧視的存在。
警察局内，有一種正面的氣氛以壓制種族歧視的傾向，大部分警員認爲只有極少數例子是涉及種族歧視。但他們也承認，在日常接觸到的人很多均會違反社會規範，所以很容易滋生對某團體的負面看法。
警員也同意有小部分同僚的行爲欠妥。但他們對此僅能對同僚略加規勸，或要求與别的同僚合作出勤。如他們正式向上級投訴一同事，將受到同儕的排擠，管理階層人員也不例外。但他們不想令不當行爲存在於警隊之中，所以會注視這種情况。
警員一般希望對警員被投訴事件由内部人員調查，但他們一般覺得警隊高層對下級支持不多。他們不願意承認警員會犯錯誤。警方工作受公衆及媒體關注，並且有高度紀律性，如承認警員有錯，警隊可能感到在公衆心目中没有地位。
警員對一些社區警訊中心表示歡迎，認爲它們對警民溝通有幫助，但也表示這些中心對執法方面不會有很大作用。
部份警員更認爲有人專門針對警方，指警方歧視他們，以掩飾他們的不當行徑。
傳播媒體方面，警員認爲媒體多以煽情手法報導事實，令公衆對警方有不良印象。他們相信要多和媒體進行溝通，以傳達警方的某情况的看法，以改善警方的形象。
警員認爲警方與社區關係的下降，部分原因是由於加拿大的移民政策所致。新移民往往不了解加拿大的法律和價值，法例又容許一些曾犯罪的新移民留在加拿大。
多元文化訓練可以幫助打破種族定型，但不可以改變警員的辦事方式。大家均認爲應在培訓警員時加强多元文化及其他訓練，令警員在出勤時與各方人士均可打交道，不會有太大阻隔。
温市的警員又認爲，政府並不及媒體和公衆那麽多麻煩。他們認爲一些少數族裔人士自稱爲該群體的領袖，並在一些事情上批評警方。警員覺得警方高層太容易受到公衆壓力所影響，對下層員工不公平。
很多時警員認爲工作很辛苦，警方在編排工作時又不大恰當，但他們仍覺得應以保護市民 爲首要任務。
他們説，巡邏工作是最有效的改善警民關係的做法，但個别與市民接觸的機會並不很多。警員希望多些機會認識社區，而非只和犯罪者打交道。他們説：「警員花費百分之九十的時間在百分之十的人口。」
English translation: A Small Number of Police Officers Have Racial Discrimination Issues
Most Police Officers Are Fair to the Public
Police officers have their own views on racial discrimination, police mistakes, mass media, new immigrants and police training.
The police officers from Vancouver think most of their colleagues are fair to the public and only a very small number of the police officers have some attitude or behavior of racial discrimination.
Because of their challenging job, it is hard to avoid “classifying” people. However, behaviours of racial discrimination damage the police image. The police officers think that a system of racial discrimination does exist.
There is a positive atmosphere in the police station to suppress the tendency of racial discrimination. Most police officers believe that only a few cases involve racial discrimination. But they also admit that since the police are constantly in contact with many individuals who violate the social rules, it is easy to develop negative opinions about a certain group.
The police also agreed that a small number of their colleagues have inappropriate behaviours. However, they can only advise that these colleagues change or ask them to work with other officers. If they formally complain about a colleague to the supervisor, they may face exclusion by their peers, and management personnel are no exception. But they don' t want to have misconduct in the police force, so they will watch this situation.
Police officers generally hope that they will be investigated by insiders for complaints. Because they generally feel that they are not well supported by their administration, they are concerned that the police may lose public trust by acknowledging that the police officer is wrong.
The police welcome the idea of police information centres in certain communities [There are ten community policing centres in Vancouver.], and think that they may be helpful for the police to communicate with the public. However, these centers will not be much use for the police to carry out their duties.
Some officers even think that some suspects may disguise their misconduct by criticizing the police for treating them discriminatorily.
Talking about the media, the police said that the media tend to report the facts in an oversentimental way. This damages the image of the police in the public eye. They believe that more communication with the media to distribute the opinions of the police will help improve their image.
The police think that part of the reason for the deteriorating relationship between the police and communities is caused by the Canadian Immigration policies. The new immigrants usually have a limited understanding about the laws and values of Canada. Some regulations allow new immigrants with criminal records to stay in Canada.
Training about different cultures will help to break down the stereotypes about racial groups. However, this training should not change the practices of the police. There is a consensus that more training about cultural differences and other cultures is necessary. They will help the police officers to better communicate with community members from various sectors.
The Vancouver police also said that the government is less concerned compared to the media and the public. Some members of the minority groups, acting as their leaders, criticized the police about some cases. The administration level of the police force was easily impacted by the pressure of public opinions. This was not fair to the lower-level officers.
They have worked very hard due to how some work has been assigned unreasonably. But the police officers still consider protecting the citizens as their primary duty.
The police said that patrols can be the most effective way to improve the relationship between the police and the public. There isn’t much opportunity to reach the citizens. The police hope for more opportunities to know the communities, rather than just dealing with criminals. The police said that 90% of the police officers’ time is usually spent dealing with 10% of the population.
